


Soulmates

by tillyenna



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: I can't write crack, Idiots in Love, M/M, Pining, This was supposed to be a joke, brownie is the best bro, jamies an idiot, mild homophobia, no really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:48:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23109505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tillyenna/pseuds/tillyenna
Summary: Not a soulmate verse. This was supposed to be crack about the Stars taking the tradition of Jamie gets the first Tyler hug after a goal waaaay too seriously - it turned into 5k of pining.So: The stars take the tradition of Jamie getting the first Tyler cuddle/hug (it's up for debate) after a goal way too seriously. Jamie finds out. Decides to get his revenge (revenge is unneeded here Jamie... wth) - things get weird and gay.Please note, the mild homophobia tag is because Jamie acts like a typical NHL player for most of it, not like a homophobic dickbag though.
Relationships: Jamie Benn/Katie Hoaldridge, Jamie Benn/Tyler Seguin, Tyler Brown & Tyler Seguin, Tyler Seguin/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 155





	Soulmates

**Author's Note:**

> Allll of the thanks to @alexrothis who beta'd this for me, and answered stupid questions about the stars for me, and then wasn't even mad at me when the rangers went and beat them last night. That's true friendship right there.
> 
> Apparently I like to write Jamie as a bit of a dick. This is weird because i'm low key in love with him so I have no idea why.
> 
> If you found this fic through googling your own name: go right ahead. Like... you probably want to turn back right now... unless your name rhymes with Smyler Smeguin and you really ARE pining over Jamie Benn, in which case.... Pine away.... we all pine with you.

“Team bonding, Captain’s orders,” Segs calls out as they pull their clothing on after practice. “Tomorrow afternoon, mini golf, with other halves if you want.”

“Kids?” Pavelski asks.

“Sure,” Jamie grins. “More the merrier.”

“Hey Seggy,” Dobby nudges his teammate. “You bringing your girl?”

“Yeah,” Dickie grins over at him. “Pretty sure three dates is a record for you, bring her to meet the team.”

Tyler raises his middle finger in salute of the chirp. “I’ll see if she wants to,” is all he says. “No promises.”

He doesn’t mind them chirping him about his lack of relationships – if they knew why, they’d only chirp harder, and maybe take it more personally than just good-natured chirps. He’d rather they just thought he was terrible at commitment, rather than being totally in love with someone unattainable.

So, the next day, he turns up at the mini-golf course the team had hired out for the afternoon, with his stunningly attractive arm candy. Let it never be said that Tyler Seguin does things by halves, if he has to have someone to make him look like the ultra-macho heterosexual hockey player he pretends he is, he’s going to have it be someone stunning. And OK, she might have whispered in his ear on the way there about it being their fourth date, and he could stop being such a gentleman now if he wanted, so he expects this really isn’t going to last beyond today – but today is about how he looks to his teammates.

He introduces her to everyone and, of course, makes sure to ask Katie to keep a special eye on her – that was how it worked after all, he was best bros with Jamie, so his girl would have to be best girls with Katie, and if that had the added bonus of meaning he had to spend the day glued to Jamie’s side – well, that’s never been a problem for Tyler.

The day starts off well, the older kids are getting competitive, and of course the boys themselves are getting ridiculously competitive (Team Europe vs Team North America, obviously), the girls are chilled, not taking things quite as seriously, and the tots are running around and climbing on parts of the golf course.

It all starts to go wrong when Tyler gets a super flukey hole in one. Being the child he is, he spins round in an off-ice celly, and the next thing he knows he’s got a cute girl in his arms pressing a kiss to his cheek as she wraps her arms around his waist.

“Did she just…” he hears Bish say.

“She just did…” Esa sounds just as stunned.

Tyler slips out of his “girlfriend’s” embrace, and turns to look at his shocked and quiet teammates.

“Did I do something wrong?” she whispers.

Tyler shrugs, “Not as far as I know babe.” He glances over to Jamie, who is the only person around them who looks as confused as Tyler feels.

“Is there a problem boys?” Jamie, ever the captain, turns his attention to where the rest of them are staring at them.

“Yeah!” It’s Miro who speaks up first. “Giving Tyler cuddles before you means fine.”

“Erm, since when?” Tyler shakes his head. “That’s not ever been a listed fine.”

“More to the point,” Jamie starts speaking over him. “When do Tyler and I cuddle?”

Miro rolls his eyes, “On ice, after celly, can do fist bumps with Tyler, but team only cuddle after Jamie.” He looks at them like they’re idiots. “Is law.”

Tyler looks over at Jamie. “Is it a rule you have?” he asks, somewhat incredulous.

Jamie shakes his head.

“It’s not your rule,” Pavelski speaks up, hoping to be able to explain a little better. “It’s a team rule.”

“Why?” Tyler can’t help but ask. “Superstition?” It seems weird to have a post celly superstition, but then again, he knows as well as everyone else – sometimes hockey players are very weird.

“No!” Miro snorts. “Is because you soulmates, belong together. Is very important not to step on Captain’s feet.”

“Toes,” Tyler corrects without thinking.

“Soulmates?” Jamie turns a little pale. “I’m assuming that’s a mistranslation.”

There’s an awkward silence as the team gaze at each other, no-one wanting to answer Jamie, to explain that no, soulmates was exactly the right word, and the only reason Miro even knew the word was because that was how the rest of the team described Jamie and Tyler.

“Right.” Jamie’s voice is terse, and there’s an edge of anger under it. “Let me make one thing clear. Tyler, is not my fu…” he takes a breath, taking in the presence of the children. “Tyler, is not my flipping soulmate.”

Tyler stares down at the ground, blinking furiously. It’s not like he didn’t know this, but hearing Jamie say it, with such anger and hatred in his voice. The last thing he wants however, is for his teammates to see him crying over this.

“Secondly,” Jamie shakes his head. “Any bull… any stupid rules about Tyler and I hugging on the ice,” he stresses the word hug, letting them all know how unimpressed he was with them suggesting it was a cuddle. “They stop now. Here. Today.”

Tyler shakes his head. “I’m going to go and grab us both a coffee,” he manages to make himself say, impressed at how level he’s managing to make his voice. He doesn’t remember to offer one to either Katie or his own guest, but that doesn’t fucking matter – what matters to him right now is getting out of that situation.

The second he’s out of sight, heading to the small café, he takes his phone out and flips to the favourite’s section.

“Hey,” he says quietly, when Brownie answers on the first ring.

“What’s up babe?”

“Fucking fuck,” is all Tyler can say, and then, accepting the fact that he’s just going to cry, lets the tears spill down his cheeks. “Long story short, just had to listen to Jamie yelling about how he’s totally not my soulmate.”

“Shit.” Brownie swears, and then. “Did you tell him? Dude that was not the plan.”

“I didn’t fucking tell him!” Tyler contradicts his best friend. “Apparently our teammates are of the opinion that we’re soulmates.”

“So are you,” Brownie points out softly, and then, a little kinder, “So am I.”

Tyler sighs, sitting down on a weathered bench, “So is everyone, except the one person who actually fucking matters.” He wipes away one of his tears angrily, but more keep spilling over. “Why couldn’t I have fallen in love with you, eh?”

“Too confusing.” It’s always Brownie’s answer. “If we got married and became Mr and Mr Tyler Seguin-Brown…. How would people tell us apart?”

The old joke makes Tyler laugh, not through humour but because it’s familiar, like a comfortable old hoody. “I love you Tyler Seguin-Brown.”

Brownie gives the expected response, “I love you too, Tyler Seguin-Brown.” It’s always been platonic love between the two of them, even with the occasional ill-advised hook up as teenagers. However, the two Tylers are closer to each other than they are to anyone else, and they tell each other everything, Brownie has been there for every second of Seggy’s years of pining over Jamie.

They chat until Seggy’s stopped crying and apologised to Brownie for crying down the phone at him.

“It’s what I’m here for,” Brownie teases him gently back. “Now get back to your team before they think you’ve properly gone missing.”

It’s not too long before Tyler returns to the group, coffees in hand, he hands one off to Jamie without a word. “They stopped being weird?”

Jamie rolls his eyes, his smile is strained, but it’s still there. “What do you think the difference between a hug and a cuddle is?”

It’s something he’s never considered, “Erm, not a clue?”

“Time, or meaning?” Miro asks him, he’s clearly not learnt his lesson about sticking his nose in where it clearly isn’t wanted.

It’s Jamie’s Katie who goes on to explain further, “There’s disagreement, whether it’s length of time that makes a hug a cuddle, or whether it’s the intent behind it.”

Segs shrugs, “I mean, there’s a definite time limit on a hug, I’ll give you that.”

Jamie shakes his head at him, “That’s the argument they’re using to suggest that we cuddle after goals.”

Tyler can’t help but snort with laughter, “Is that such a problem?” He punches Jamie in the bicep. “Surely you’re man enough not to be threatened by a cuddle.”

“I’ll threaten you with a cuddle,” Jamie snarks good naturedly, and then he’s grabbing Tyler around the neck, pushing him into a headlock and rubbing his fist into Tyler’s scalp, and Tyler feels like maybe he can breathe again, maybe everything isn’t ruined.

\----

It doesn’t feel weird, until he scores his next goal, and Jamie skates over, and punches him in the shoulder, and the joy of the goal doesn’t stop the tears from stinging his eyes.

It’s a roadie, so he can’t even cuddle with his dogs when he gets home. He thinks about curling up in bed to call Brownie, but he knows Brownie has a life of his own, and he feels bad assuming that just because he doesn’t play at the level Tyler does, he can drop everything to take his friend’s calls. He does however refuse drinks with the team, and heads back to his room, thank God he doesn’t have to have a roomie anymore like he did in Boston, or a fucking babysitter like they made him have when he first moved to Dallas.

He’s not expecting the knock on the door, he’d made it clear he didn’t want company – but he answers it anyway, and when he sees it’s Jamie, he lets him in.

“I need to sulk,” is all Jamie says in explanation. “What are you watching?”

Tyler’s not sure why Jamie needs company to sulk, but he’s never turned down time with Jamie, so they sit down on opposite sides of the king sized bed, and tune out for a few minutes to mindless television until Jamie breaks the silence.

“They ruined it,” is what he says to start with. “They ruined our fucking post goal celly Ty.”

Tyler sighs, he’d wondered if that was what it was about. “How did they ruin it?” he asks, because in his mind, only Jamie had changed anything.

Jamie shrugs, knowing he’s being childish and immature. “They called it a cuddle and made it weird and gay. How does that not bother you?”

Tyler wants to reply that weird and gay is literally his tagline, but instead he just shrugs. “Guess it just doesn’t,” he lies. It’s a lie because it bothers him that this might have taken something away from what little he has with Jamie.

“Do you think we’re soulmates?” There’s a weird edge to Jamie’s voice that Tyler can’t quite place.

It’s the impossible question to answer – to say no would be an outright lie, and it would be lying to himself as much as it would be lying to Jamie. Instead he just shakes his head and confirms, “Soulmates don’t exist, duh.”

Jamie doesn’t seem satisfied, just hunches in on himself, hugging his knees up to his chest.

Tyler can’t help but make the offer, “Want a cuddle?” He pauses for a moment, and then adds, “Or we can put a timer on my phone to make sure it’s a hug.”

Jamie snorts with laughter, and that was what Tyler was aiming for. “You’re an ass.”

“Hey!” Tyler protests, “Can’t call your soulmate an ass.” If joking about this is what it takes for him and Jamie to be ok again, then he will joke about it until the cows come home.

Suddenly, Jamie turns to look at him, “I’ve had the best prank idea.”

That piques Tyler’s interest, Jamie indulged his pranking habits a lot more during his early Captaincy – Jordie was a relaxing influence on him that way, but in later years he’s gotten old and boring. “Tell me more.” He grins his most evil grin.

“They want PDAs from us?” Jamie rolls his eyes, “Then we give them PDAs until they can’t take it anymore.”

Tyler can feel the blush staining the back of his neck, and uses every ounce of his willpower to try and force it back down, futile though his efforts might be. “Isn’t that…” he pauses, “A bit weird and gay though?” He deliberately echo’s Jamie’s words from before.

“It’s just a prank,” is Jamie’s answer, and as always with anything Jamie decides, Jamie’s word is final. So Tyler resolves himself to a few weeks of what could turn out to be the world’s most enjoyable torture.

\---

It all starts a few games later when, post game in the locker room, Tyler has just taken his pads off, standing there shirtless, when Roope throws an arm around his shoulders. “Good game huh Segsy?”

“Oi!” Jamie calls from across the other side of the room, striding over towards them.

Roope stares up at the captain, confused about what he’d done wrong.

“I was under the impression,” Jamie steps forward. “That no-one was allowed to cuddle Tyler unless I’d done it first.” He reaches out and pulls Tyler into his arms, slipping his hands around his naked waist, burying his face into the side of Tyler’s head.

There’s wolf whistles and jeers from around the room, and Tyler can feel himself tense in the embrace – he’s not wearing enough clothing to hide it if he gets hard from this, so he’s focusing all of his energy on thinking about the least sexy things in the world as Jamie holds the embrace uncomfortably long and strokes a hand up and down Tyler’s spine.

From that point on, it only gets worse. Jamie starts with giving Tyler random cuddles in the locker room, but when that clearly doesn’t get the rise out of his teammates that he’d been looking for, he moves it on to pulling Tyler onto his lap on plane rides, or sat round playing Chel at Tyler’s with the boys there.

Brownie’s been his constant confident his whole adult life – even more so now, every time Jamie pulls Tyler into his arms, a few minutes later Brownie gets a text saying, “he did it again.”

They’re on a roadie when Jamie brings it up again. “It’s not bothering them as much as I thought it would,” he confesses.

Tyler isn’t sure what to say to that, whether to tell Jamie to stop, which would be the sensible thing to do, and involve the least amount of heartache, or to tell Jamie not to stop, which would break his heart, but also mean he’d get to keep cuddling Jamie.

Instead, what Jamie says next completely surprises him. “I think we should up the ante.”

“Uh, what?” is all Tyler manages to get out.

“You know, make things more uncomfortable. So they regret telling all the rookies we’re soulmates.”

Tyler nods dumbly, “We do that how?”

“Kissing.” Jamie has his Captain voice on. The one which means he’s decided how this is going and nobody gets to change his mind.

Tyler’s mind spins. The idea of kissing Jamie is quite literally something he’s only ever dreamed of. Well, fantasized about – late at night – with his hand down his shorts. On the other hand, kissing Jamie is probably even more stupid than this ridiculous cuddling fiasco, since Jamie is only doing it to prove some stupid point to their teammates.

“Come on,” Jamie steps into his personal space. “It doesn’t weird you out, does it?”

Tyler shrugs. “Tongue or no tongue?” he asks, instantly hating himself for it. Tyler Seguin, professional breaker of his own heart.

“Tongue,” Jamie grins. “Doesn’t count otherwise.” And then, without any more warning, he leans in.

Jamie kisses the way Tyler expects him to, and ok that might be because he’s watched a little too closely the few times he’s seen Jamie kiss Katie, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t the best fucking moment of his life. Feeling Jamie press against him, hands on his hips, he can’t help but sink into his Captain. He can’t help the little moan that escapes his lips as Jamie slides his tongue between them, one hand coming up to thread through Tyler’s hair. Tyler suddenly has an intense feeling of needing to regain control, so, acting entirely on impulse, he drags Jamie’s bottom lip between his teeth, causing Jamie to gasp a little, and then break the kiss.

“Cheeky,” Jamie teases, his cheeks flushed. He bumps their foreheads together softly, and then adds, “Expect that in the locker room, yeah?” before turning and disappearing out of Tyler’s room.

So maybe Tyler falls back onto his bed damn near in a swoon, maybe he’s hard as a fucking rock and there’s no way that Jamie didn’t notice that and maybe he reaches up a tentative hand to press against his lips like some kind of teenage girl – he’s just kissed the guy he’s been in love with for over half a decade, he doesn’t need your judgement right now.

He doesn’t jerk off though; in a rare act of maturity, he grabs his phone, and calls his best bro.

He’s still not expecting it, post game in the locker room, when Jamie wanders over to him and says, “Thanks for the assist babe,” before slamming him up against the wall and kissing him.

There’s a moment of stunned silence in the room, everyone watching on as Jamie uses one hand on Tyler’s hip to pull him closer, the other hand threading through his hair to tilt his head to just the right angle, tongue thrusting in and out of his mouth more like he’s fucking him than kissing him.

“Is that a fine?” someone asks, and Tyler honestly can’t tell who because his mind is full of Jamie.

Jamie pulls back a little, and rests his forehead against Tyler’s. “Nah,” he says breathlessly, “You can’t fine us, we’re soulmates.” The twinkle in his eye lets Tyler know that this was exactly what he wanted. They’re pelted with balls of sock tape, of course, but Jamie is standing in front of Tyler, his arms around him, so most of them just hit his back, and none of them actually get through to Tyler.

“I’d say thanks,” Jamie whispers in his ear, low and sultry, before glancing down to where Tyler is obviously hard in his pants. “But I don’t think I need to.”

“Fuck you,” Tyler snarks back good naturedly. “Warn me next time.”

Jamie laughs right back at him. “Nope.” He grins, and presses a soft, chaste kiss to Tyler’s lips, before going to finish getting changed.

If Tyler had thought that because Jamie had gotten his quip in about them being soulmates he was going to stop his stupid game, he’d have been entirely wrong. It’s often asked why Jamie is Captain of the Stars, and the truth is, because he’s disconcertingly stubborn. If you could win the Stanley Cup through sheer force of stubborn, Jamie Benn would win it every year. The result of this is, of course, that Tyler ends up sat on his lap making out for an hour on a plane ride.

They’ve ignored jeers from the rest of the team, they’ve ignored their teammates threatening to take pictures, they’ve ignored their teammates actually taking pictures, they’ve ignored having candy thrown at them, they’ve ignored having drinks thrown at them – the end result of this is Tyler is sat on Jamie’s lap, making out with him, whilst Jamie’s shirt is plastered to his torso, and this means one thing that Tyler cannot ignore for one second longer.

“Fuck Jay,” he whimpers. “We have to stop.”

Jamie frowns at him, his gaze questioning.

“I’m so fucking hard.” Tyler whispers. He’s buried his face in Jamie’s neck so he doesn’t have to meet his gaze as he admits it.

Jamie lets out a low chuckle. “Mile high club?” he suggests with a sparkle in his eye.

Tyler pulls back in astonishment, staring at him. “The fuck?” he whispers. “Isn’t that taking it a bit too far for a fucking prank?”

Jamie looks at him for a moment, considering, and then agrees. “True,” he says, his voice low and solemn, before leaning forward, his lips brushing against Tyler’s ear. “But I figure if I give you a hickey you’ll probably come in your pants.”

Tyler whimpers, hates himself a little bit, and then, as Jamie sucks hard onto his neck, just far enough below where his shirt collar sits that it won’t be visible in his game day suit, but totally will be visible in a t-shirt, does exactly what Jamie said he would.

It’s late when they get to their hotel, but Jamie still follows Tyler to his room, uttering the worst phrase in the world. “Can we talk?”

Tyler lets him in, and collapses onto the bed. “Talk at me while I sleep,” he says, face down on the bed, shoes still on. He wants nothing more than to strip off his come stained pants and briefs, hop into a hot shower and collapse into bed – but then again, he’s never been good at saying no to Jamie.

“I just…”

When he glances over, Jamie looks slightly nervous, so he pulls himself to sitting, and stares up at his friend.

“Did I push it too far?”

Tyler lets out a snort of laughter. “From my perspective, no, I was obviously ok with that.” He rubs his tired face with his hands. “From the perspective of ‘it’s just a prank’….” he lets himself drift off, what he’s implying doesn’t need to be said out loud.

“I like it,” Jamie confesses quietly. “Not the gay stuff,” he clarifies weirdly.

Tyler looks at him utterly perplexed, because as far as he was concerned, it was all ‘gay stuff’.

“I like how much it affects you,” Jamie says softly. “How much it riles you up.”

Tyler braces himself – he’d known it would have to end soon, and the fact that he has to bring it crashing down around himself is probably his just desserts for indulging this stupid prank. “You know I’m not straight, right?”

Jamie lets out a soft huff of laughter, “I’m beginning to realise that.”

Tyler feels he may as well go all in at this point, there doesn’t seem to be a lot he can hide anymore. “And I’ve been 100% gone on you since day one.”

“Oh.” Jamie’s voice is soft, and he looks almost hurt. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Tyler shrugs. “You’re very straight,” he says honestly. “And I like our friendship, didn’t want to fuck that up.”

Jamie shakes his head softly, “You wouldn’t have fucked it up Ty, there’s nothing you can do to fuck our friendship up.” A wry little smile tugs at the corner of his mouth as he adds, “After all, we’re soulmates.”

“Fuck you Benn,” Tyler laughs, throwing his pillow at Jamie.

“You wish,” Jamie sticks his tongue out like a child, and then stands to leave. He almost looks like he’s going to head straight out the door, but he turns back for a moment and takes a step towards Tyler. Tentatively, he bends down, and presses a purposeful kiss to Tyler’s mouth. “I really do like it.”

Tyler is left, still with come on his fucking pants, staring, dumbfounded at the beautiful ass of Jamie Benn as he walks out of the room.

For a few days, until they get home from their stretch on the road, everything is back to normal. Jamie continues with his obnoxious Tyler cuddling, occasional kisses when he feels the rest of the team are irritating him, but leaves it relatively PG. It’s not until they’ve been at home for a few days and Tyler gets a call from Brownie that everything starts to come crashing down.

“Segs,” Brownie doesn’t even bother with pre-amble. “Check your fucking twitter.”

“I don’t have access to my twitter,” Tyler reminds him. “It’s a corporate run account since my terrible coming out attempt.”

“Fuck,” Brownie swears. “Want me to send you screenshots?”

“Just tell me what’s got your panties in a twist,” Tyler laughs.

“I think Benn’s broken up with his girl.”

There’s a minute of silence while Tyler absorbs that information. “What makes you think that?” he asks eventually.

“So, she’s deleted every picture of them together off of her Instagram, and done some kind of ‘I hate men woo girl power’ insta post.”

“Ok,” Tyler’s put his phone on speaker and is checking his own Instagram (which thankfully he is still allowed access too, otherwise the world would be deprived of puppy pictures, and that would be a tragedy); he follows Katie, and what Brownie’s saying seems to be true.

“And then Benn has put a post up on Twitter being all, ‘sometimes it just turns out someone’s not your soulmate.’”

Tyler drops his phone. Swears. Picks it back up again. “Did he use the actual word soulmate?”

“I wouldn’t be calling you with my panties in this much of a fucking twist if he hadn’t,” Brownie confirms.

Tyler decides momentarily to ignore the fact that his best friend has just implied he’s wearing panties, the chirps are too easy, and frankly, right now, they aren’t important. “Fuck,” he swears softly.

“Call your boy Segs.”

Tyler hangs up, and instantly dials Jamie’s number, but it rings straight through to voicemail – he’s probably being inundated with calls right now. He opts for a text instead, because who even listens to voicemails.

>> Please tell me you didn’t break up with your long term girlfriend for a fucking prank J.

He doesn’t get an instant reply. He isn’t expecting an instant reply, so he goes to walk the dogs, because he needs to do fucking something.

He doesn’t hear from Jamie at all, but they’re scheduled for afternoon practise – and he gets there a little early, in case Jamie’s at the rink so they can chat, but Dickie confirms he’s in with PR and Media at the moment.

“Honestly Segs,” he chirps. “I’d heard that twitter fuck ups were more your style than his.”

“Dude,” Johns laughs in Tyler’s defence. “I think this brings Jamie and Tyler’s twitter fuck up counts even.”

“Holy shit.” Bish is staring at his phone. “Katie’s just tweeted the worst possible thing.”

They all crowd round, to see a post Katie had shared of the infamous ‘bunch mox’ tweet from years ago with the added commentary of: “And for the record… he didn’t #welloverhim.”

Tyler can’t help but start to giggle, this is beyond ridiculous now.

“Dude,” Johns breaths softly. “That is way more info on my captain than I needed to know.”

They go out for skate, and try their best to get their heads in their practise, but they all notice the absence of their Captain, and they all know why he’s not there.

He doesn’t join them while they’re going over game tape afterwards, and Tyler eventually bites the bullet, and nips out to the little independent coffee shop he knows Jamie likes, getting his usual double espresso, as well as a few other coffees (so what, he knows the coffee order of the entire media team – he fucks up ok, and it helps if he’s on their good side) before going back to the rink and heading to the PR department. He knocks on the meeting room door, knowing that’s where they’ll be.

“Just wanted to deliver these,” he says softly, sticking his head round the door. “I know I wouldn’t want to deal with decaffeinated Jamie.”

“Fuck you,” Jamie says softly, but there’s no venom to his voice, he just sounds exhausted.

“Fine,” Tyler grins. “I’ll drink it myself.” But he hands it over as Jamie grabs for it anyway.

“We’re almost done here,” Ben, their media relations manager says. “And honestly, I think Jamie would probably appreciate a ride home.”

“Can I just come stay with you for a bit?” Jamie grins at him. “She’s super pissed.”

Tyler sighs, he knows he isn’t going to say no to Jamie, he never does, but he has to ask anyway. “Tell me this wasn’t just for a prank,” he re-iterates.

Jamie shakes his head. “Of course not,” he answers sincerely, “Maybe the prank made me realise that she isn’t my soulmate, but I haven’t broken it off with her just because of some joke.”

Tyler nods, “Well then, you know the boys will be glad to see you.” And honestly, if he has Jamie staying in his spare room for a few days, gets to see sleepy early morning Jamie, gets to see tired late at night Jamie – he’s all in for that too.

It’s later that night, when they’ve watched a movie, both of them having had their phones off for the evening, and they’re relaxing on the sofa in the media room, a dog on each of their laps and one in between them, that Tyler eventually asks the question. “So why did you do it?”

“I told you.” Jamie frowns slightly. “Just worked out she wasn’t my soulmate.”

Tyler raises an eyebrow and waves his hand as if to say ‘go on’.

Jamie sighs softly, and then, looking down at Marshall who’s sprawled across his lap, resolutely not looking at Tyler, “When I kissed her, I didn’t even feel a fraction of what I felt when I kissed you.”

“Oh.”

Jamie slides his hand along Cash’s back until it’s right next to Tyler’s, and just flicks out his little finger so it’s overlaying his. “I want this.” He looks up at Tyler for the first time with his beautiful brown eyes. “I want us.”

“Oh.” Tyler feels like he’s in a dream. He knows there aren’t any words coming out of his mouth, he knows what the words coming out of his mouth should be, he has a million questions he should be asking. But it’s Tyler, and Jamie’s just asked him for something, so there’s only one word that comes out of his mouth. “Yes.”


End file.
